1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electrical connector assemblies and, in particular, to a connector assembly that has self latching and unlatching capability.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In many instances an electrical connection between one piece of equipment, such as a data set, and another piece of equipment, such as customer terminal equipment, is susceptible to accidental disconnection by virtue of someone tripping over the interconnection cable. This problem can be circumvented by securely fastening the two matching electrical connectors together, but this requires the use of additional tools and hardware, or the allocation of additional space so the mating connectors can be grasped at an appropriate position to effect disconnection. In most cases the former approach is unsatisfactory since the necessary tools and hardware are not always readily available. The latter approach proves unacceptable in those cases where the amount of space available for making the connection is limited.
Accordingly, it is one object of the present invention to significantly reduce the possiblity of accidental disconnections.
Another object is to provide a secure connection between a pair of mating electrical connectors without the use of special tools or additional mounting hardware.
A further object of the present invention is to configure a connector assembly which can be advantageously securely latched to a mating connector and unlatched therefrom without having to grasp particular positions on the connector assembly.
Still a further object is to reduce the amount of space required to provide a latched connection and, in turn, increase the number of connector contacts which may be accommodated within the space available.